Ezlink for retail has great potention but has not really pick
up. One of the main reason is poor consumer support.
The lanscape in Hong Kong is totally different. Octopus [the
equivalent Ezlink] has achieved great success over the years. It
has received wide spread adoption from transit to non-transit
application. People use it to purchase newspaper, take ferries, buy
lottery, pay fast-food, etc.
Ezlink in Singapore very much pale in comparison. One of the main
reason being that Ezlink business was divided into the hands of 2
organization rather than a single unit. Ezlink Pte. Ltd. under the
LTA and QB, which is now sold to another company, due to poor
retail performance. The decision for the split of the two [transit
and non-transit] may be the cause of failure for the non-transit
biz, as evident by Hong Kong Octopus.
Another reason that Ezlink for retail has not really pick up, is
because consumer in Singapore is not actually supporting it. The
lesser consumers use it for retail, e.g. to buy McD, the lesser
chance of other merchants adopting it as a mode of payment, and the
tougher the ecosystem will pick up, and the less likely that Ezlink
can contribute to the competition to NETS, and the lesser the
competition, the lesser the general public can benefit from healthy
competition. The result, fee hikes. And it is really taking a step
backwards in Singapore's electronic payment.
So, do help to support Ezlink for small purchases.
